Ash

Astoria, London - 6 Sep 2008

by Daniel Whelan

Teenage kicks from three 30-somethings

"Coupled with the plethora of tracks here that have not stood the test of time, the stadium rock workouts only add to the “oh get on with it” feel of the evening."

It is twelve years since Ash released their debut album, ‘1977’ and thirty one since two thirds of the band were born; this seems to be as good a reason as any to play said record live in full from start to finish. Arriving on stage to the Twentieth Century Fox fanfare – a homage to the band’s beloved Star Wars films – they very nearly burst into ‘Lose Control’; timed to begin as the fanfare and accompanying space noises finish, frontman Tim Wheeler’s guitar fails to make a sound. “That sucks”, he says, before coaxing the instrument into life and off into ‘1977’s opener.

Playing entire albums in order is something of a recent trend, and while a great idea in principle often fails to work in practice, as it does here. Album tracklistings are compiled with a very different experience in mind for the listener than the average gig setlist; indeed, if the record is old enough – as ‘1977’ is – it is plotted with two sides of a vinyl or cassette in mind, building to a peak halfway to get you up out of your chair to flick over to side two; here, Ash peak less than twenty minutes in as ‘Kung Fu’ (End of side one) gives way to ‘Oh Yeah’ (start of side two)

The band attack their old material with aplomb, and their debut remains their best album, and probably the only one that could hang together like this in a live environment. However, the start-to-finish format works against them here; the majority of 1977’s truly great moments are during ‘Side One’ of the gig. By the time we are deep into ‘Side Two’, listening to half remembered songs from over a decade ago,‘Girl From Mars’, ‘Goldfinger’, ‘Kung Fu’ and ‘Oh Yeah’ are distant memories, and album closer ‘Darkside Lightside’ seems all too far away.

Part of Ash’s original charm was the power pop genius of those early hits; short, sweet, and in retrospect a little stupid, they retain their original thrill here, although the band have picked up a few bad habits in the interim; all too often songs are given stadium rock style middle eights, including an embarrassing Queen-esque call and response section during ‘Kung Fu’. Coupled with the plethora of tracks here that have not stood the test of time, these little workouts only add to the “oh get on with it” feel of the evening.

Post ‘1977’, the band return, accompanied by a quartet of stormtroopers, to blast through a selection of covers and rareties including a cracking take on Dusty Springfield’s ‘ I Only Wanna Be With You’, a rather pointless ‘Teenage Kicks’ and a version of John Williams’ ‘Cantina Band’ that is fun for the first minute but quickly becomes tiresome.

A second encore brings a few later hits including ‘Burn Baby Burn’ and ‘Orpheus’, during which the gig really catches alight; it is an all too brief moment, and the evening remains one for the die hards only. But with no super remixed deluxe anniversary edition of ‘1977’ to promote, Ash have clearly mounted this gig for the fans, and on that at least it is hard to fault them.
mr amendment said on September 23rd 2008 [report abuse]

turns out ash do have a super deluxe anniversary edition of 1977 out in october. money grabbing little bastards.

cs192 said on October 3rd 2008 [report abuse]

you lot are a happy bunch ain't you! the failure at the start of the gig wasn't Tim's guitar, but the pre-recorded tie fighter intro. as someone who attended both this gig and the roundhouse one the night before I'd have to say this was the better gig, despite or maybe because of that comical moment at the start.

yakyll said on October 21st 2008 [report abuse]

Agree with this review, saw them late last year and the whole evening did indeed have an "oh get on with it" feel. Beigest performance I've ever had the misfortune to encounter.

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